In typical data processing systems, a compiler reads source code and creates the object code which is ultimately processed. Typically, the compiler creates a data structure which will support property values which are defined later in the source code or during run time. In an object oriented system, the compiler may create a class and a mechanism for creating instances of that class with defined fields of preallocated memory space into which the values are stored.
An alternative data structure which has, for example, been supported in the [incr Tk] language allows values to be stored in strings or arrays as options associated with an instance object.